Author: Veena Narayan

Writer
Personal Essay6 Comments

My Brush With the Virus

Veena Narayan

So, it finally found me; the virus did. The symptoms began the day after the Malayalam New Year’s day – Vishu. My mind immediately went on high alert about my breathing. It popped all sorts of questions. Was there a strain? Was I drawing in air with difficulty? Were my oxygen levels dropping? Would I know if they did? Would the oxygen levels dip while I was asleep? Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed awake and monitored my breathing?   Someone sent an oximeter and that proved to be a huge relief. The tiny little display panel was solid … Continue reading My Brush With the Virus

Folklore4 Comments

The Naked Warrior and the Crafty Classmate

Veena Narayan

Unni had reached the capital of Travancore and was granted an audience with King Marthanda Varma. Read the first part of the story here. The next day when Unni turned up at the palace at the appointed hour, he found the fort gates locked and bolted from the inside. Normally, there would be guards posted at the entrance, but today they too were missing. Puzzled, Unni took a walk around the fort and found all the doors locked and secured and no guards at any positions. When he came back to the original entrance, he knew that the great king … Continue reading The Naked Warrior and the Crafty Classmate

Folklore1 Comment

Exponent Extraordinaire

Veena Narayan

Kalarippayattu, the martial arts form unique to Kerala has always been part of its folklore. Thus we get to know of colourful masters who performed great deeds of valour and showed unimaginable skill. One such master of martial arts was Kallanthattil Gurukkal. It’s interesting how we rarely get to know the name of the particular individual. Here Kallanthattil is the family name and Gurukkal, the title given to him. But, what was his given name? No one knows. It has been lost in the folds of time. For the sake of narrative convenience, let’s call him Unni, a very common … Continue reading Exponent Extraordinaire

Folklore1 Comment

The Good Doctor and the Labourer Who Made Him Cry

Veena Narayan

Aryan Narayana Mooss was a famous Ayurvedic physician who lived in Kerala more than a century ago. Read the first part of the story here. One day, Mooss was sitting on an armchair on the veranda of the southern wing of his house. A poor mappilla labourer came in through the gatehouse and approached Mooss. But when he reached the middle of the courtyard, he sat down and couldn’t move. “My lord, I can’t stand,” he said piteously and continued to sit there on the courtyard that had been flattened smooth, and swept clean. “Tell me what ails you,” said … Continue reading The Good Doctor and the Labourer Who Made Him Cry

Folklore16 Comments

The Good Doctor

Veena Narayan

When Aryan Narayana Mooss was all of sixteen, his father, the great Ayurvedic physician deemed that he had learnt enough and could be trusted to treat patients on his own. So the younger Mooss took over from his father the tasks of examining the patients, prescribing medicines, gathering herbs and plants that had medicinal value and supervising the preparations of special medicines using these. When it was needed, he visited the patients in their homes too. But the father did maintain a close watch over his son who was also his disciple. Often at the end of the day, father … Continue reading The Good Doctor

Folklore4 Comments

Bhima and the Runaway Forests

Veena Narayan

Bhima and his friend Mannathu Panikkar sat down to have lunch when the king’s messenger came in with an urgent message. (Read part one of the story here.) “Please read out the king’s message,” said Bhima politely. “But sir, you’re having lunch,” the messenger hesitated. “That’s okay. You said it was urgent. So lunch can wait,” said Bhima. “The neighbouring kingdom has sent a huge army to attack our land. Please help.” The messenger read out.   The Poonjaar army was battle ready but they would be outnumbered easily. Panikkar and Bhima immediately rushed out. When they reached outside it … Continue reading Bhima and the Runaway Forests

Personal Essay3 Comments

A Teacher Fondly Remembered

Veena Narayan

We have no idea whether any of us were her pets. She was quite brusque in her ways and did not seem to favour any student over the others. Yet we were fond of her. Of her springy hair wisps of which would escape the tight bun at the nape of her neck especially when she was annoyed with us and in a temper, of her erect dignified stance, of the alert bird like movements of her neck which rose above the dull orange of her high collared full sleeved blouse. In her black and white habit all that springy … Continue reading A Teacher Fondly Remembered

Jottings3 Comments

Quotes Recalled

Veena Narayan

As a child and later as a teenager, I had this habit of collecting quotes. I would write them all down in a notebook I’d stitched together from the blank pages of used notebooks from the previous academic year. In those ancient pre internet days I would often come back to a quote either to pep up an essay we’d been set or to introduce a speech as part of an elocution contest I was participating in or simply for the sheer pleasure of it. My notebook of quotes was lost in the several moves that we made from one … Continue reading Quotes Recalled

Jottings1 Comment

Some Musings on the Tamil Film Super Deluxe

Veena Narayan

It has been more than a year since the release of the Thiagarajan Kumararaja Tamil film Super Deluxe. But I suppose one can indulge in some thoughts about it after having watched it recently on an OTT platform. Spoilers Ahead For those who are reading this and haven’t yet watched the film but are planning to there are disclosures about the ending of the film ahead that may spoil your enjoyment of it. Plot The film strings together the stories of an unfaithful wife, three teenagers whose hormones are running high and a transgender who has returned home. It is … Continue reading Some Musings on the Tamil Film Super Deluxe